18th century ceremonies with the participation of the miraculous icon of Our Lady of Tartaków : an example of the functioning of local Marian sanctuaries in the Polish Commonwealth

The topic of Marian sanctuaries in the territories of the old Polish Commonwealth has a rich historical and artistic literature. There are comprehensive writings on the history of those locations where, in the 18th century, miraculous icons were crowned. But remaining outside of the interest of researches were those local Marian sanctuaries which did not receive papal crowns, but “merely” the declaration of miraculousness. In the southern part of the eastern hinterlands of the Polish Commonwealth were many sanctuaries with a local reach, which although not having received the supreme distinction - the privilege of crowning the icon - functioned quite effectively, attracting masses of the faithful. One such place was the parish church of St. Michael the Archangel in Tartaków, Belz Province (ab. 100 km north of Lwów), which contained an icon of Our Lady Healer of the Sick. The article describes the sequence of events in the ceremonies which occurred in this church in the 18th century: transfer of the icon to the altar of the rosary (1768), proclamation of a decree declaring the icon at Tartaków to be miraculous (1777), ceremony of transferring the icon to a new main altar (1778). Studying the course of these ceremonies is possible thanks to the discovery of reports of the above-mentioned actions, prepared by the promoter of the Rosary Brotherhood of Tartaków, Fr. Augustyn Kostkiewicz. They describe the character of the ceremonies, the temporary decorations erected for them, including small architecture, sculptures, inscriptions explaining the scenes depicted in paintings. All ceremonies began in the castle of the Potockis, from where a procession accompanied by bands, cannon shots, and imperial troops proceeded to the church. On the procession’s route were erected triumphal arches, richly decorated with paintings, figural sculptures and banners with Latin quotations from scripture, along with their rhymed Polish translations. In specially prepared tents along the way, the faithful could attend mass, go to confessions and receive the sacrament of Confirmation - which was one of the more important points of the ceremonies. The course and setting of the ceremonies in Tartaków indicate many parallels with the sequence and setting of the crowning of Marian icons which occurred many times in the 18th century on the territories of the Commonwealth. The text outlines the similarities and differences between the two types of ceremonies, with an attempt to interpret them and address the sources of interdependence. Although there exists a fairly large number of sources of descriptions of crowning ceremonies, descriptions of other ceremonies occurring in local sanctuaries, such as proclamation of decrees, are few. The discovery of reports of the ceremonies at Tartaków are the more valuable because they were created shortly after the events described, and they were written by their organizer